The End Of A Year In The Middle Of My Life

 Today I took what, probably, will be my last ride of 2024. It more or less followed an unplanned route my neighbor Sam and I rode earlier this year, through four of New York City’s five boroughs.

Having moved to the Bronx earlier this year, I’ve been exploring some new routes. I think I’ve found a couple that will be part of my regular routines and, more important, won’t simply be adaptations of rides I took while living in Astoria.

I guess looking for, and doing, those new rides has been emblematic of what 2024 has been for me:  not only adapting to, but creating from, change.  

Nine months ago I left Astoria, where I lived 21 years, for a senior citizens’ apartment by the New York Botanical Garden and Fordham University. I cried every night, and many days, for a few weeks. The change wasn’t just one of geography or living space:  Many of my new neighbors indeed fit, for better and worse, American society’s notions of “old” people. Some use walkers or wheelchairs; others are infirm in less visible ways. But they also have lived lives, some of which I can scarcely imagine but others that are familiar in ways I hadn’t expected.

Seen during my ride today—in the Bronx.

While I am not the only person in my building who rides a bicycle, I’ve developed an identity as “the bike rider” or “la ciclista” among other residents.  Perhaps it’s because they see me more frequently on or with one of my bikes than they see other residents with theirs. 

Whatever anyone’s perception might be, as long as I am cycling, I am in the middle of my life—and the change from one year to another is but another part of my journey.

So here’s to the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025–in the middle of my life.

She’s In The Middle Of Her Life

 Perhaps you have come to the sudden end of a trail or street and had to make a U-turn. Or you had to dodge some obstacle you couldn’t have seen—or a driver made a turn they didn’t signal and you couldn’t have anticipated.

Most times, you’ll make the stop or turn without incident, if with a few “choice words.” But there comes a time for most cyclists when such a split-second reaction leaves them off-balance, or even causes a tumble, no matter the cyclist’s skill level or age.

The last word of the previous sentence might have prompted the reaction of Sue Scheibel’s doctor after falling from a U-turn she admits she took “too fast” on her bike.

Said doctor suggested that if she wanted to continue cycling, she should do it indoors. “I’ve seen some really terrible injuries from bike accidents,” he admonished her.

She concedes that her doctor might’ve been trying to “protect” her but couldn’t help but wonder whether his advice was motivated by age-ism. (She is 80.) Although she doesn’t say as much, I couldn’t help but think that a dollop of sexism was ladled onto his prognosis: Another doctor, female, said it would be healthier to continue riding as long as she understood her limitations.

For some people, her question would beg—or answer—the question of whether someone is “too old” to ride a bike or engage in other physical activity.  She posed that question online, and most respondents, who included medical professionals, said that she could continue as long as she’s capable and takes necessary safety precautions.

Were I part of that conversation thread, I’d’ve seconded that opinion and added that as long as she’s in the middle of her life, she should enjoy cycling and any other activity she likes.

Oh, and I’d remind her of the premise behind this blog’s title:  As long as you don’t know when your life will end, you’re in the middle of it.

If It Fits…

When I first became a dedicated cyclist, the only “helmets” available were “leather hairnets.”

Has any helmet manufacturer offered a model called “The Hairnet?”